Citizen Cohn

Book excerpt: No one so famous or controversial led so many secret lives. Loathed by some, and well respected by others, Roy Cohn was known as the toughest and most brilliant lawyer in America. From his role in the Rosenberg trial and as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy through his extraordinary friendship with J. Edgar Hoover and his vendetta against Robert Kennedy, Cohn's reputation grew larger than life. Presidents, celebrities, gangsters, judges, and endless politicians crossed Cohn’s path, either as friend or foe, including J. Edgar Hoover, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy, Barbara Walters, Fat Tony Salerno, Louis Nizer, Si Newhouse, Rupert Murdoch, George Steinbrenner, Donald Trump, and many more. Cohn was the target of numerous indictments and haunted by professional misconduct charges which led to his disbarment shortly before his death. His private life, even more outrageous than his life known to the public, constantly had his name in gossip columns; there were his lovers, his denial of his homosexuality and AIDS diagnosis, and finally his death from AIDS-related cancer in 1986. Nicolas von Hoffman has created a remarkable and provocative biography of a complex life that was driven by power. Interviewing family members, colleagues, clients, friends, and lovers, he gives an extraordinary portrait of the man, his ideological passion, and the patterns of power and money that made him, in the end, one of the most influential men in our society. From hidden bank accounts, numerous incidents of political fixing, and surprising connections, Citizen Cohn reveals the real Roy Cohn.